The Walk

For F*** Magazine

THE WALK

Director : Robert Zemeckis

Cast : Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, Clément Sibony, César Domboy, Ben Schwartz, Steve Valentine

Genre : Drama

Run Time : 123 mins

Opens : 22 October 2015

Rating : PG (Some Intense Sequences)

Keep those Dramamine pills handy, because director Robert Zemeckis and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt are taking us on a particularly dizzying walk. In this biopic, Gordon-Levitt plays Philippe Petit, the French high-wire artist with, quite literally, a lofty ambition: to walk a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. The moment he first glimpses the structures in a magazine, Petit cannot take his mind off conquering the void between them. He seeks the tutelage of Papa Rudy (Kingsley), the patriarch of a famous clan of high-wire circus performers, and goes about assembling a team of accomplices who will help him break into the South Tower. Street musician Annie (Le Bon), who becomes Petit’s girlfriend, is the first. She is soon joined by photographer Jean-Louis (Sibony), math teacher Jeff (Domboy) and in New York itself, electronics salesman J.P. (Dale) and insurance agent Barry (Valentine), whose office. in the World Trade Centre. Battling doubts, their better judgement and logistical difficulties all the while evading the authorities, Petit and his crew go about preparing for this illegal, dangerous but ultimately breath-taking feat of derring-do. 

The Walk is based on Petit’s autobiography To Reach the Clouds, which earlier served as the basis for the 2008 Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire. After making his acceptance speech, Petit famously balanced the Oscar statuette on his chin. Awards contender biopics, branded as “important movies”, can sometimes be inaccessible and a bit of a chore for the average moviegoer to sit through. The Walk is very far away from that, a straightforward, heartfelt account of one guy’s crazy quest and the lengths he and his friends went to in order to make his dream a reality. There’s an undeniable appeal to the simplicity of the premise which papers over the slightly phony Hollywood sheen the film sometimes has. There are moments that can be twee and cloying, particularly during the nostalgia-heavy scenes set in Paris, but perhaps it adds to the film’s old-school charm in its own way. 

Typically, awards movie season biopics don’t exactly seem like they must be witnessed on the big screen. The Walk’s primary selling point is its spectacle, and the exhilarating sequences of Petit doing his thing 110 storeys up in the air are what Zemeckis and co. hope will convince those who watched the documentary to experience the story again. There have been reports of audiences at screenings actually throwing up from vertigo. We don’t mean to sound insensitive to those viewers, but incidents like that are great publicity indeed, indicating that the film has achieved a sense of immersion for the audience. It’s a little like when horror movies like Last House on the Left proudly proclaimed on their posters that audience members fainted from fright. 

Known for helming effects-heavy films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Back to the Future and Forrest Gump, in addition to motion capture movies like The Polar Express and Beowulf, Zemeckis has never been one to shy away from gimmicks. Surprisingly, 3D hasn’t been used to accomplish the effect of vertigo as often as one would think. The twin towers themselves and the surrounding New York cityscape circa 1974 are faithfully, stunningly realised by visual effects supervisor Kevin Baillie and the artists from effects houses Atomic Fiction, UPP, Rodeo FX and Legend 3D. This is a “based on a true story” affair that isn’t afraid to have lots of fun, and the theme park thrill ride aspect is complementary rather than distracting. 

Gordon-Levitt turns up the charm, bringing lithe athleticism and a mischievous twinkle in his eye to the part of Petit. Yes, his French accent is pretty cringe-inducing and is even more jarring given that Gordon-Levitt is acting opposite actual French actors, but it’s relatively easy to overlook after a while. It’s no mean feat to make obsession endearing, and while there are the expected dramatic beats where we see the toll that Petit’s unceasing drive takes on him and his friends, the film is largely upbeat and free-spirited. His stunt double is former Cirque du Soleil high-wire walker Jade Kindar-Martin. Gordon-Levitt’s take on Petit is almost an imp from another dimension who has materialised on this plane to simply live his dream. Sure, his exploits may seem crazy to the man in the street, but high above that street, Petit seems perfectly at home, and in his projection of this, Gordon-Levitt is irresistible. 

French-Canadian actress Le Bon shares palpable chemistry with Gordon-Levitt. While her introductory scene in which Annie gets upset with Petit for stealing her thunder with his tightrope juggling routine is corny, we do come to buy these two as a couple. Annie definitely has ideas and goals of her own, so her support of Petit is all the more endearing. As the mentor figure Papa Rudy, Kingsley does seem like he’s lived his whole life in a circus, bringing enough personality to the “paternal/authoritarian” archetype. Sibony, Domboy, Dale and Valentine are a likeable bunch and the camaraderie that Petit’s team shares is heart-warming and rousing. Jeff willingly assists Petit on the roof of the South Tower in spite of his own crippling fear of heights. “Squad goals,” as the kids say these days. There is a stoner character who comes off more as inauthentic, unnecessary comic relief than anything else, though. 

The Walk isn’t about a troubled chess champion, a schizophrenic mathematician, a code-breaking genius or women fighting for their right to vote. It’s not particularly weighty, but especially during awards movie season, this reviewer is fine with that. The twin towers stand no more and the film acknowledges this tastefully with a final frame that is wont to give many New Yorkers a lump in their throats. It is occasionally overly schmaltzy, and as Alan Silvestri’s score swells and characters give impassioned speeches about chasing their dreams, one might roll one’s eyes and say “I see what you’re trying to do, movie”. However, the earnestness with which Zemeckis and crew go about things overrides that feeling. A celebration of passion, conviction and artistic expression, The Walk is a thrilling, entertaining and moving journey.  

Summary: While it might give acrophobics pause, The Walk is a heartfelt tale that is easy to get into thanks to its star’s innate likeability and its thrilling spectacle is something to behold. 

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars 

Jedd Jong 

Jurassic Park (3D)

Written for F*** Magazine, Singapore

JURASSIC PARK (3D)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello
Genre: Adventure, Thriller
Run Time: 126 mins
Opens: PG
Rating: 30 May 2013

It’s an adventure 65 million (+20) years in the making: two decades after Spielberg’s groundbreaking creature feature first stomped into theatres, it’s time to dust off those amber-encased memories to make a return trip to Jurassic Park. While the powers that be are struggling to keep Jurassic Park IV from fossilizing in development hell, a 3D re-release of the original has been trucked out. While we hope those glasses make us look as cool as Dr Ian Malcolm (Goldblum), that’s not likely.

Wealthy magnate John Hammond (Attenborough) creates a theme park on an island off Costa Rica, populating it with dinosaurs created through cloning technology. An accident necessitates a safety inspection of the park before it opens, and three experts are called upon to sign off on it: Palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant (Neill), Palaeobotanist and Grant’s girlfriend Dr Ellie Sattler (Dern) and chaos theorist/mathematician Dr Ian Malcolm. They are joined by lawyer Donald Genarro (Martin Ferrero) and Hammond’s grandchildren Lex (Richards) and Tim (Mazzello). However, trouble is brewing behind the scenes as the park’s computer systems architect Dennis Nedry (Knight) plots an act of industrial espionage, leaving chief engineer Ray Arnold (Jackson) helpless as a hurricane hits the island and its savage star attractions are unleashed.



There are many for whom this movie holds sentimental significance. Just as Spielberg’s Jaws was a landmark film for those who came of age in the 70s and E.T.: The Extraterrestrial defined the childhoods of many an 80s kid, Jurassic Park had a similar effect on the children of the 90s. There is no doubt that Spielberg has become a master of the art of the blockbuster, crafting films equally heavy on the spectacle and the heartstrings-tugging. While some may decry his style as schmaltzy, it’s indisputable that the “inner child” aspect of the director is an asset he puts to good use at the helm of films such as this one.



Jurassic Park was an industry game-changer, transforming the way big blockbusters were made. Twenty years ago, computer-generated imagery was newfangled and yet to be thoroughly proven as a filmmaking tool. In fact, Spielberg had originally planned to use go-motion puppets and models built by Phil Tippett but was won over by early CGI tests. Jurassic Park’s mix of digital dinosaurs and stunning animatronics work by Stan Winston Studios resulted in a film populated with what felt like living, breathing animals. While the lack of texture compared to those created using modern digital effects is evident especially on the big screen, the film’s visuals still hold up relatively well.

3D re-releases have been generally regarded as a money-grubbing studio move, and not without reason. However, the conversion job on this film has been competently handled; the effect of the added depth fairly noticeable. Majestic wide shots, such as the one in which the helicopter nears Isla Nublar, benefit the most. Does it add a great deal to the movie? No, not really. But perhaps it enhances the novelty of the experience and helps with the feeling of being a kid again, this feeling being one of the main reasons to revisit the flick.



Beyond the chased-by-dinosaurs thrill ride aspect of the film, some attention has been given to the themes explored in the novel on which the film is based, written by the late Michael Crichton. This is a cautionary tale of man playing God as told by an idealist; Spielberg delivering a masterful mix of wide-eyed awe and pulse-pounding tension. Perhaps this is why Hammond is rendered as a more benevolent figure, whereas he was an amoral opportunist in the book. While Jeff Goldblum may have stolen the show, it is Sir Richard Attenborough’s performance as a creator who witnesses his paradise slipping through his fingers that is quietly compelling and affecting. It’s comparable to François Truffaut’s appearance in Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. An actor/director of Attenborough’s stature could have easily phoned in the performance, viewing this as nothing more than a bills-paying blockbuster – but he doesn’t, lending the character warmth and amiable naïveté.



While the stars of the film are undeniably the dinosaurs (the raptors in the kitchen and the T-rex bursting out of the paddock both as thrilling as this reviewer recalls) the human supporting cast isn’t half-bad either. None of the characters are really drawn with a lot of depth, but that’s just fine. Sam Neill plays an old-school palaeontologist who dislikes kids – naturally, he eventually becomes a father figure to Tim and Lex as he chaperons them through the park. Laura Dern plays off both him and Goldblum well, and the dynamic between the three doesn’t feel forced or unnatural. Bob Peck’s hammy gamekeeper Muldoon (the lines “SHOOT HER!” and “clever girl” come to mind) has become something of a pop culture icon and it’s fun to see Samuel L. Jackson before his evolution into the total cinematic badass we know him as today was complete. And while Wayne Knight has become better known as Newman from Seinfeld, to a large chunk of moviegoers, he’ll always be the greedy, duplicitous Nedry who falls victim to venomous spit.



Jurassic Park is a film that has aged considerably well, which is more than can be said for a number of 90s sci-fi action films. It’s one of those films that aims straight for the inner 12 year-old in most everyone, and it’s one of those movies you share with your kids; this re-release being a good way to do so. Monster movies have mostly been relegated to low quality straight-to-DVD shlock along the lines of Jersey Shore Shark Attack and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, so a movie like Jurassic Park really makes one long for more straight-faced takes on such material, with real characters and emotion in addition to mayhem and destruction. It’s also the kind of movie that makes one wish Spielberg would make more popcorn entertainment in addition to the loftier films he has turned his focus to as of late.

SUMMARY: Jurassic Park is far from the worst contender for a 3D conversion, yielding satisfactory results and giving movie-goers a chance to relive a genuinely entertaining and well-made blockbuster on the big screen.

RATING: 4 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong